I've Said Farewell to Medium

 

Yes, it's true, I've parted ways with Medium.com. Okay, maybe that's a bit too strong. I haven't so much parted ways as I've opted out of the subscription service and won't be writing much on the site anymore. I don't want to say I won't be writing at all, as I'll end up making a liar out of myself. 

I began writing on Medium in 2018. It was a great place to write fiction, and there was a huge short-fiction community. I had a blast. But that all changed. There was a big change up in management, and those of us who wrote fiction saw a drastic drop in both views and monetization. I know it shouldn't be all about the money, but I went from earning an average of $30-$50 per month to less than $20 per year. That's not even enough to cover my subscription fee.

I will be leaving most of my work on the site, but I will be taking a lot of my stories and serials down, reworking them, and either publishing them as quick reads on Amazon or on my Ko-Fi site. Even if I only make a few pennies here and there, it's still more than they're making me on Medium.

Now, I'm not totally bashing Medium. They're still an amazing place for writers, but it's geared more toward non-fiction and opinion pieces. More power to those who write in that genre. I've done it, and it's not easy. 

I'm going to leave all my writing prompt posts on the site. You never know when someone might stray in and need something to write about. I'll also be leaving a few of my other posts, simply because they were posted in other people's publications. I would never pull something from their sites without letting them know first, and there are just way too many of them.

As I won't be posting on Medium anymore, I will be updating all my personal blogs a bit more. I'd like to say a lot more, but we all know that's not true. However, not having the pressure on me to be Medium worthy, I can let my creative side out a little more.

I haven't come up with a "posting" plan yet. I'm thinking that this blog will be for my fiction, poetry, and personal posts, and Graves Publications will be for all my writing-related posts and any other form of non-fiction I come up with.

Mystic Realms will be where I post about history and mythology. I'll always have a place in my heart for histories, mysteries, and mythologies. The ancient world was one of my earliest obsessions. And a lot of history has changed (thanks to archaeology) since I was a kid.

I'm not sure where I'm going to put my serial fiction. I have a short series started on Amazon, and I might do the same with some of my others. I haven't made up my mind on that one yet. I might just publish a few of them myself and sell them from my site. Can't do any worse than they're doing right now.

Though I'm still working on the final scene, I've already begun the journey. I hope you'll come along to see where this path takes us. If nothing else, it should be good for a laugh. 

Until next time,
Miss Chris!!!

I Unplugged for the Whole First-Half of the Month

 

"Handmade Beauty" by Christine Graves via NightCafe Studio

~~~~~~~~~~

Hello, my darlings. I can't believe it's almost the middle of March already. I took the entire first half of this month off from any writing. Not because I'm done writing but because I've been on a creative energy burst that has completely swallowed me alive.

In a few weeks, I'll be doing my first craft fair. To say I'm nervous is an understatement. I'm in the process of making as much stuff as I can to try and sell. I'm afraid that I won't have enough to get me through the day, but at the same time, I'm afraid I won't sell anything and will end up bringing all this crap back home.

I do a lot of crafting, but my current crafty love is paper crafting. I make a lot of handmade gift tags and bookmarks. I've also made a bunch of refrigerator magnets that are all different and just gorgeous. 

My handmade bookmarks

My handmade refrigerator magnets

I've had a blast putting these together and have spent half of this month unplugged. Yes, I checked my email and stuff like that, but for the most part, I stepped away from the Internet and just let my brain run rampant. It's been so amazing.

I still have a lot of stuff I want to make. My biggest problem is that I have too many ideas and not enough hours in the day. I'm trying to focus on just a few products (the magnets, bookmarks, some gift tags, and a few greeting cards). If I try to make too many things, I'll burn myself out and won't get anything done.

I find it very relaxing to just sit and create little works of art while allowing my brain to wander off on its own. My hands and my brain seems to disconnect somehow and each one does its own thing. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes not. 

We spend every day of our lives tied into our digital lives. Doing something that requires only the human aspect allows me to reconnect with a time long ago. And I highly recommend it to anyone who needs to...unplug.

Until next time,
Miss Chris

~~~~~~~~~

Christine Graves has been writing online for nearly 30 years. She has written everything from fiction and poetry to reviews and ad campaigns. She runs three other blogs. Graves Publications, Library of the Mystic Realms, and Collected Keepsakes. She also writes for a platform called Medium.com  where she runs several publications. 

Christine is an avid collector of vintage anything and an arts-and-crafts kinda gal. She is a sucker for a garage/yard sale, secondhand stores, and auctions. Because of this, she's opened her first real online shop called Prairied Treasures and another that showcases her AI artwork called Pathways through the Past. 

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